T Dog’s Media Notepad: Landecker exits WLS-FM
– Mr. Records has called it a career: John Landecker, whose middle name is really “Records”, is exiting Cumulus-owned WLS-FM today. The move coincides with the arrival of new program director Brian Thomas from New York City’s Cumulus station, WNSH-FM (Nash 94.7, a Country station). Landecker said the departure of former PD Jan Jeffries had nothing to do with his decision to leave, which he made on his own. He insists he’s not “retiring”.
Landecker, who has worked for many local stations throughout his long career – including in Toronto and Cleveland, told Robert Feder he certainly won’t miss the music being played on WLS-FM – especially after the 1960’s. WLS mainly plays mostly rock hits from the 1970’s and 1980’s (which basically means a lot Journey, Aerosmith, and Van Halen ten times a day.)
I guess we shouldn’t ask Landecker’s opinion on Alternative Rock or Hip-Hop.
– A year after being put up for sale, The Walt Disney Co. has finally found a buyer for Radio Disney’s WRDZ-AM (1300): Polnet Communications, who is in the process of selling its local low-power TV station, WPVN to a separate company. Polnet specializes in Polish programming (hence the name Polnet.)
WRDZ joins four other ethnic-brokered stations Polnet owns in the Chicago area.
Once known as WTAQ-AM, Disney bought the ethnic-programmed station in 1998 for its Radio Disney network, but has shifted away from its terrestrial radio strategy over the years more toward digital platforms. Disney put up its stations for sale, and WRDZ is one of the last ones to go.
If you’re looking for the WTAQ call letters to return to the 1300 frequency, forget it – they now occupy a Green Bay news/talk station.
– The St. Louis Cardinals are about to get seriously PAID. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Fox Sports Midwest has agreed to a contact extension with the baseball team lasting fifteen more years starting with the 2018 season and is worth close to $1 billion, perhaps making this the richest local baseball TV rights deal in history – remarkable given the St. Louis DMA ranks 21st in the country.
Cardinals’ games rank among the highest-rated in Major League Baseball – defeating almost all prime-time programming on the broadcast networks by far in households and among adults 25-54. FSN Midwest continues to air 150 Cardinals games per year, and can be seen not only in the St. Louis area, but also in several neighboring states, including Illinois, Arkansas, and Tennessee. No over-the-air games are planned, although at one time, KPLR and later KSDK carried Cardinals games.
The Television Critics Association press tour got underway in Pasadena this week with Netflix taking the stage first. Here’s a quick rundown on what The popular streaming service:
– Much to critics’ chagrin, Netflix still won’t divulge into how many viewers Netflix has for each show, but exec Ted Sarandos did say Orange Is The New Black is the most watched show on the service.
– Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen still might consider on appearing on Full House sequel Fuller House.
– Netflix plans to roll out a Marvel series every six months, with Jessica Jones next on top. Daredevil has also been renewed for a second season.
– Netflix Original series Longmire, picked up from A&E after three seasons, premieres on September 10. Aziz Ansari’s Master Of None premieres on Nov. 6. For more on Netflix’s upcoming programming, click here.
In other TCA news, MTV renewed Scream for a second season; NatGeo is airing miniseries Big Game Of Thrones, which I assure you has nothing to do with the HBO series Game Of Thrones.
More news from TCA is coming soon, so watch this space.